Customer Reviews

MOAB IS MY WASHPOT

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

In `Moab is my Washpot' (the best-written celebrity memoir of 1999), Stephen Fry, the intellectually intimidating archetypal Brit tells his life story to the age of 20. Often outrageous, always full of humour, Fry is the darling of the media, appearing regularly in TV series and chat shows. He is highly regarded as raconteur, newspaper columnist, actor and writer. But above all else, Stephen Fry is eccentric in the Oscar Wilde sense of the word.

In this, his autobiography, he is frank about his early years, which included perpetual lying, expulsion from one of Britain's better known public schools, his discovery that he was homosexual, his theft and misuse of a friend's credit card, his imprisonment and, eventually, the discovery of his own personal road to Damascus.

The multi-talented Fry writes as he speaks. He is the ultimate wordsmith, taking his cue from Wilde by using the `correct' word - the one that paints the most vivid mind picture, rather than a pompous, flamboyant word that sends everybody scurrying for the dictionary. `Moab is my Washpot' is simultaneously daring, impertinent, open, moving, sacrilegious and funny.

You'll read `Moab is my Washpot' not just for the factual story of a young man whose confused sexuality takes him to the edge of self-destruction, but for the joy and beauty of the written word.

A stunning work and a pleasure to read.

This is an excellent book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I realize that everyone has different reading habits, but it might be revealing to know that I more or less read this straight through, starting the minute I got it home, breaking for maybe six hours of sleep, then resuming progress in every free moment at work until I finished. It was impossible to put down, and seems to exert some sort of gravitational pull upon my hand every time I pass it on the shelf.

If you're interested in Stephen Fry, it follows that you should read this. If you like autobiographies in general, this is one of the best you'll come across. There are parts that could easily stand alone as essays, and parts that read like fiction. The writing is brilliant as usual-- clear, precise, thoughtful, poignant, and funny.

One thing I feel is important to mention-- most folks do not remember what it felt like to be young. It's clear to me that most writers create teenage or youthful characters from observations of those around them, not from their own experiences, and it shows. After a while, it becomes painful to read yet another cardboard teen. But Stephen Fry does remember, what it was like, in detail, and it's very refreshing and gratifying. I read this and see myself, or someone I can relate to and identify with. Others might read this and see someone they know, and still others might be astounded by the depth of feeling and sincerity expressed.

I would recommend this to most anyone--I love it and, while there are people who won't, I think they're in the minority. If you're not convinced, get the cheapest copy you can find, and give it a shot anyway. This book is more than worth your while.

Moab Is My Washpot by British comedian Stephen Fry is at turns sly, funny and laced with a poignancy which reveals a hauntingly human side to a man whose writing talent and comedic prowess makes him intellectually intimidating.

In the book we learn of how Fry was turned out of prep and public school, his jaunt around England as a forger of credit card signatures, his time in prison and the triumphant reclaiming of his life through his entrance to Cambridge.

What is important about this book is that it is universal. Fry's story of teenage angst and lonliness is one many teens go through today. It is good to see that his story has a successful ending. It serves as notice to lost youths that they can turn their lives around and be a success.

There is one flaw with the book. It ended to soon. Fry only chronciles the first 20 years and doesn't even hit on such momentous events such as meeting fellow partner in comedic crime, Hugh Laurie at Cambridge. I can only hope Mr. Fry's fingers are busily typing out a sequel covering the next twenty years.

Moab Is My Washpot by British comedian Stephen Fry is at turns sly, funny and laced with a poignancy which reveals a hauntingly human side to a man whose writing talent and comedic prowess makes him intellectually intimidating.

In the book we learn of how Fry was turned out of prep and public school, his jaunt around England as a forger of credit card signatures, his time in prison and the triumphant reclaiming of his life through his entrance to Cambridge.

What is important about this book is that it is universal. Fry's story of teenage angst and lonliness is one many teens go through today. It is good to see that his story has a successful ending. It serves as notice to lost youths that they can turn their lives around and be a success.

There is one flaw with the book. It ended to soon. Fry only chronciles the first 20 years and doesn't even hit on such momentous events such as meeting fellow partner in comedic crime, Hugh Laurie at Cambridge. I can only hope Mr. Fry's fingers are busily typing out a sequel covering the next twenty years.

Fry's autobiography, eagerly anticipated by this critic, is suberb. His prose is masterful, and he unravels the morass of his childhood and adolescence with such candor, it would be wrenching for any sensitive reader. The term 'misspent youth' would hardly suffice. While the empathy of this reader only lasted up to a point (I just can't fathom somebody stealing from his parents and sleeping at night), Fry captures the sense of defeatism many experience in their youth, having given up on life and lingering on in misery in a seemingly indifferent world. Though Fry's experiences while attending British public schools may seem hackneyed or even stereotypical, with the usual homosexual flirtations, his treatment of it is comparable to and may even surpass R. Adams's The Day Gone By. Most readers, regardless of their sexual behavior, could surely relate to the frustration, obsession, and hopefully joy that one feels, never more strongly, in adolescence. My only criticism is Fry's occasional dalliance with political and social proselytizing. Particularly irritating for me is where he lists things which do or do not require an apology, as though he fancies himself the supreme arbiter of what is right and wrong. He often refers to the "self-righteousness of adolescence," though he withholds comment on the middle-aged self-righteousness shown herein.

Fry is a Wodehouse-worshipper, and his elegant prose shows it. This discursive, digressive, sometimes profane and endlessly entertaining bio covers Fry's youth (with much reminiscing about Public School days in the manner of Wodehouse's Psmith) and the development of his areligious (anti-religious?) and homosexual tendencies... well, they're more than tendencies, really, as you'll see.

I found this to be greatly amusing-- I'm glad I picked it up.

I loved this book. I also loved The Liar, The Hippopotamus and Making History but Moab was the best. I can't count the number of times I thought about a phrase or sentiment "I wish I had written that". This book kept me out late for a week. I finally finished it with a warm smile last night, picked up a John Irving and fell instantly to sleep. If you're feeling alone in the world, read this book for tender company. Even if you weren't raised in England. Even if you are a wife, mother, accountant...

British Renaissance man Stephen Fry has written his best book, featuring his most compelling protagonist yet: himself. Fry tells of his school days and later criminal escapades with an erudite and knowing wit that is by turns heartbreaking and sly. His style has never been better, with that bouncy tone kept in check by esoteric references to literature peppered throughout and nice little social commentary to round off the delicious mix. His bravado at sharing so much with his readers is commendable, and the book is simultaneously funny and tragic, a difficult mixture to create.

I was unable to put this book down for a minute while I was immersed in it, and am waiting every day for a sequel (Moab II, anyone?) that details his Cambridge days and early experience as a theater actor, to his days as comic TV star, to his best role in Wilde. I'm sure that anything he writes will be interesting, even if it's just his grocery list.

I loved Fry: A Memoir, so thought I'd find out about the first 20 years of Fry's life. It's fascinating to see how troubled he was as a child, and how much he turned his life around. Parents, teachers, and those with sensitive stomachs should be warned that Fry leaves no details out of his account of his sexual development and early sexual experiences (including one rather worrying and not entirely consensual one with an older student at school). For those interested in Stephen Fry I would recommend Fry: A Memoir, but even that only to those 18+ on account of some very explicit sexual references. Despite these, a highly entertaining and intriguing read. DEFINITELY listen to the audiobooks rather than the books if you're going to read them, Fry's narration transforms them.

I picked this book because I adore Stephen Fry, and I was not disappointed. It may be the most candid autobiography I've read, and the funniest. Fry bemoans his lack of singing ability, but he is a virtuoso with language and a first-rate storyteller.

At first blush, you might think you have little in common with Stephen Fry. But if you read this book, you'll see how universal his stories of youth and adolescence are. His thoughts and pain and laughter are all so familiar, even though the details are not those of my life. His recollection of small moments and vivid details make every anecdote real.

I loved this book, and highly recommend it.